1. Field Of The Invention
The subject invention relates to an improved collapsible case which is primarily adapted for holding packaged liquid dairy products. The distribution of milk and milk products has developed into a standardized form wherein most milk and milk products are packaged in some form of paper or plastic container. The containers with the milk and milk products are generally square and cases for these milk products have become standardized in that the cases are designed to hold either; 16 quart containers, 91/2 gallon containers, or 4 one gallon containers. The dairy industry has settled upon these cases as being of a convenient size for handling. Many dairies are equipped with automatic machinery for handling of the cases, as well as loading the product into the cases.
In the typical operation of a dairy, the cases are first cleaned off usually with a scalding water to substantially eliminate bacteria which may be on the case. The case is then filled with packaged milk products, and the case with the product is delivered to a vehicle. The vehicle delivers the case with the product to a retail store. The retail store takes control of the case with a packaged product and places the packaged milk products in a display case to offer it for sale to the consuming public.
Once a case has been emptied it becomes a problem for the retail store. The case takes up a substantial amount of room which is generally at a premium in a modern grocery store, such as, a supermarket. Typically, the cases are placed on the outside of the store along a loading area so that when the dairy makes its next delivery, the cases from the previous delivery are retrieved. It may be appreciated that the cases are under the control of the retail establishment, but the retail establishment has no economic interest in the cases. As a result, a certain segment of the public converts the cases to their personal use. This conversion includes utilization of cases as laundry baskets, toy containers, blocks for raising an automobile, or even blocks for supporting planks for tradesmen, such as, painters and wall paper hangers. It follows that dairies suffer a loss of cases which cost is passed onto the consumer in a higher price of milk and other milk products. It is therefore desirable to provide a collapsible case which is particularly adapted for holding packaged milk products, which collapsible case may be stored in a minimum area, but is light-weight, strong and may be readily handled in existing machines which load cases with milk containers.
2. Description Of The Prior Art
The utilization of collapsible containers is known in that U.S. Pat. No. 3,164,281 to A. R. Williams, Jr., entitled, "Collapsible Container", teaches a collapsible container construction. The Williams collapsible container has a pair of floors which are raised and which floors are stored in an indentation in a side wall to allow the container to collapse. It is readily apparent that the use of an indentation requires additional material to make the Williams device heavier than necessary.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,235,093, to F. E. Warnick, issued Mar. 18, 1941, entitled "Collapsible Box" discloses a box construction wherein a pair of complimentary sections of a bottom extend in opposite directions. The construction does not teach a light-weight square container of the type which is required for a collapsible case for use with a modern dairy equipment.